Margo Price is a country music trailblazer who redefined the modern artist with her breakthrough 2014 debut, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter. Released before pop stars widely crossed into the genre, the album showcased a commitment to classic country songs, intellectual truth-telling, and an unapologetic sense of self. Price created a lane for independent, insurgent country to thrive alongside the mainstream and became a vocal fighter for her beliefs in a genre that often favors keeping quiet. In the years since, she has released four records, played Saturday Night Live, received a Grammy nomination, toured with Willie Nelson and Chris Stapleton, and became the first female board member of Farm Aid. Her journey has included venturing into psychedelic rock on her most recent record, Strays. Despite all her success and her prominent role as an activist, Price felt the need to step away from the pressure to constantly produce content and return to her most authentic form: the songwriter. She decided to “rebuild everything from the ground up,” focusing on her art and family life, writing songs alone and with her husband, Jeremey Ivey.
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This return to basics culminated in the new album, Hard Headed Woman, an “exquisite, truly timeless” record that reconnects with Price’s country roots. The album is a look forward while staying true to the past, serving as a manifesto and a defiant cry for individuality, reflecting Price’s journey “from dive bars to tour buses”. She intentionally steered away from industry norms, recording the album in Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A, where legends like Dolly Parton and John Prine recorded, and reuniting with producer Matt Ross-Spang for a raw, “unpretentious” sound. Hard Headed Woman is rooted in Price’s history, her struggle in a town that “prizes uniformity,” and the country and folk sounds that have become her signature. The album features appearances from Tyler Childers, co-writes with Rodney Crowell, and a Waylon Jennings song given to her by his widow, Jessi Colter. Songs like the lead single, “Don’t Let the Bastards Get you Down,” are anthems that speak for the downtrodden, carrying Price’s signature blend of the personal and the political.
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